As 2018 draws to a close, I'm taking a step back to reflect on 2018 and what an amazing year it's been for Goodman Lantern.

This year was all about growth. We grew our product, we grew our team, we grew our customer base. What more could you ask for?

I learned a lot this year - about myself and about how to grow a digital business. That's the great thing about working in this sphere. Everything is constantly changing. It's an ever-evolving industry. There's always something new to learn, some new nugget of knowledge to grab hold of, some new avenue to explore.

That's what I love about my job. There's always a new challenge knocking at my door.

Above all, I learnt that I'm resilient. My team and I keep working until we've perfected our product. We take it step by step until we're completely satisfied.

I'm immensely grateful for the people I work with, they're motivated to always keep going. They're as passionate about taking GoPinLeads from strength to strength as I am. That's a rare find in a team.

I'm equally grateful not only for the customer base we've built up around GoPinLeads, but also the thriving community we've established alongside it.

There's a constant conversation going on in our social media groups and in our inboxes - a feedback loop that makes this whole thing even more amazing. I love hearing what our customers think of the current tool and what they're hoping for in future updates. It's a great joy to discover, straight from the users themselves, how they're experiencing GoPinLeads and how they think it can be improved.

I mean, that's why I started this whole thing in the first place. I wanted to solve a problem.

I struggled with lead generation myself. It was a never-ending pain in the neck.

Manual searches took forever. Bought lists were totally useless. It felt like I was stuck in a cycle of frustration. It made sales and marketing so much more difficult.

I knew that I wasn't alone in this. I had clients who struggled with the same thing. While I did my best to get my research team on the job, the process was painstaking and it used up valuable resources.

Four years ago, I realised that it was time to shift focus. Instead of manually searching for everything, I wanted to give my customers a solution they could truly rely on. That's where the idea for GoPinLeads was born.

I had an idea. I knew it could work. I chose to run with it. And look where we are now!

It hasn’t been smooth sailing all the way. We faced our fair share of struggles.

When I first launched GoPinLeads, I was told by a customer that the tool was a bust. It would never go anywhere.

That very first rejection still fuels me to this day.

My competitors dangled their huge customer base in my face. They flashed their hefty price tags, trying to get me to believe I could never swim with the big fish.

That taunting still keeps me going.

I don’t overcharge customers for this product. I’m here to solve a problem. You can’t solve a problem by charging an arm and a leg for the solution.

GoPinLeads is looking awesome right now. There are so many great features to the tool that keeps customers coming back for more.

In 2019, it’s only getting better!

We have a few tricks up our sleeve at HQ. It’s going to be a wild ride this year but we’re determined to rock the boat.

Here’s to a prosperous new year for the entire GPL family - users and backend team alike.